The confessions of Scorpius Malfoy
by Scorpia Malfoy
Summary: It's Scorpius's first year at Hogwarts. When he starts developing strange powers, he realises something's up. Elemental magic is rare, and almost never seen in children. Is it just harmless wandless magic? or something darker?
1. Of Raindrops and Railways

It was raining. That was the first thing Scorpius realised when he woke up that morning. He lay silently in bed for a few moments, listening to the soothing, faint drum beat of raindrops falling onto the flat roof above his bedroom, savouring his last morning at Malfoy manor. He didn't like living in the dark, draughty, empty house, but he dreaded going to Hogwarts more than anything. He never seemed to fit in anywhere, and he doubted that his strange and quiet personality would suddenly disappear the moment he got on the Hogwarts express. Eleven years of failed attempts to win his parents' affection had alienated Scorpius from the rest of the world, and therefore he had no idea how to make friends with people his own age. He had realised this on his first (and only) day at Muggle School. His nanny had greeted him at the school gates only to find a rather stern faced reception teacher and a live (and somewhat angry) adder. After learning that Scorpius had been found 'having a tea party' with it in the wendy house and hissing at the other students, she had dragged him home by the wrist and informed his parents, who, unsurprisingly, banned him from ever attending Woodlea Primary again.

Scorpius had reminded Draco and Astoria of this event many times over the past six weeks, hoping they would decide it would be better to not send him to Hogwarts, but they had brushed aside his comments as easily as spilt floo powder, and his feeble protests had been dismissed. However, their attitude towards their son had little negative effect on Scorpius. On the contrary, he relished in the attention they had given him over the holidays. He had no doubt that his parents loved him, although he had no idea that he was deprived of the affection that he deserved. As the owner of an apothecary, his mother was always 'busy' with her potions, and his father was nearly always at St Mungo's. He was a mediwizard there, one of the best in the country, and was often called out to deal with more horrific injuries, such as splinching and attacks by vicious creatures. At first Scorpius had been surprised to hear that hid dad was a doctor, as he didn't seem very nice. But he must be to his patients, or he wouldn't be so successful. His heart must have a soft spot somewhere, but Scorpius had yet to find it.

Returning back to earth, Scorpius glanced at his watch. His heart leapt. It was half past seven. Only three and a half hours to go. Three and a half hours until he boarded the train to Hell. He hated mixing with other children. It wasn't that he wanted to have no friends; it was just that every time he tried to speak to people, his words caught in his throat and he coughed away any chances of friendship. He doubted that it would be any different at Hogwarts. He just wanted to be alone, the way he had been forced to be all his life. There was nothing he liked better than to curl up under between his chest of drawers and the wall with his favourite blanket, a cup of tea and a copy of his favourite book, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Deciding that there was no point in lying in bed until the last minute, Scorpius climbed out of bed and began to get dressed. Choosing not to put on his school robes until he was on the train, he pulled on his favourite jeans and a comfy emerald green jumper that his last nanny knitted for him. His mother would reprimand him for dressing like a muggle when the whole family were going to be seen in public, but Scorpius preferred to blend into the background, and wizard robes made that impossible. He had discovered that when he got his cape stuck in the doors of a tube train in central London when he was nine, causing him to be dragged halfway down the platform and his nanny to be investigated for child abuse.

Pacing his bedroom, Scorpius listened again to the quiet hammering of raindrops. He found it strangely hypnotic, and gave him the feeling that he wasn't alone. He rarely experienced this emotion, and it was only usually during his rare reading sessions that he really felt it.

Scorpius decided to check his trunk to see if he had packed everything, as it was now eight o'clock. Merlin, he thought. Three hours to go. Rummaging through layer after layer of books and quills, parchment and robes, he found what he was looking for. He moved his copy of 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader' to the top, as he needed something to do on the train. As he had established whilst lying in bed, he was unlikely to make any friends.

Suddenly, there was a sharp rap on the door.

'Scorpius!' called a stern, clear voice. 'It's time to go! Get your trunk!'

'Coming, mother'

Scorpius breathed deeply, and not for the first time that day, he felt the familiar sensation in his stomach of a million tiny butterflies fluttering around inside it.

With a shaky breath, he opened the door, grabbed his trunk, and followed his mother down the hallway and into the cavernous drawing room.

To his surprise, Scorpius saw his father standing by the front door, dressed in his expensive black travelling cloak, his white blonde hair brushed back and slicked down flat to his head.

'Ready, son?' Draco asked, trying his best to sound comforting. He pressed his lips together, a strained expression on his pale face, as if talking to his child this way was a new feeling. Scorpius nodded, and the family stepped, blinking, into the morning September sunshine.

The journey to King's cross was painfully quiet, the silence broken only by a few awkward comments and several uncomfortable clearings of throats.

'So, um, does it matter what house I'm in? Asked Scorpius tentatively, wincing as his father opened his mouth.

'Well, Slytherin would be ideal.' said Draco, pursing his lips again. But Ravenclaw would be acceptable, considering you seem to be quite intelligent…'

'Oh'

So Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were out of the question, then, thought Scorpius. He was about to ask his father why, but decided not to. He closed his mouth hastily. When they eventually pulled up outside the station, Astoria levitated Scorpius's trunk and carried it onto the platform for him.

'Come on then' said Draco, grabbing the trolley and turning to face the wall between platforms nine and ten. With a surprisingly kind look at his son, they ran, Scorpius closing his eyes and wincing. He didn't open them for several seconds after he stopped running. He just stood there, breathing in the soothing scent of the smoke billowing from the train, and listening to the sounds of owls hooting, cats meowing, children shouting and parents sighing. When he finally opened his eyes, he gasped.

As much as he despised the fact that he was going to Hogwarts, nothing could have stopped him from gazing in wonder at the scarlet steam engine in front of him. The massive machine glimmered in the lights of the station, and, wondering how it worked, Scorpius almost forgot his nervousness about what lay ahead.

"Come, Scorpius," said Astoria hurriedly, giving her husband a worried look. 'You're going to be late'.

But before Scorpius could board the train, however, he caught a glimpse of a large group of people through the smoke. He recognised two of them as aurors, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. _Harry Potter!_

He noticed with surprise that _Harry Potter_ was looking at _him_, his gaze then moving on to Draco and Astoria, and then quickly back to his family. Scorpius tried to appear more interested in a large tawny owl that was sitting in a cage on the bench next to him, but found it harder than he thought, especially when a smaller version of Harry Potter stared in his direction with unconcealed curiosity. Looking around at the rest of the families on the platform, he noticed that most of the first years just as nervous as he did. Calming down slightly, Scorpius climbed onto the train. With a last, fleeting glance at his parents, he closed the door behind him and smiled for the first time in weeks.

As the train chugged around the corner, picking up speed, Scorpius Malfoy slid open the door of the first glass- doored compartment he came to. This was an extremely bad and unwise decision. He was chased out by a hoard of angry - looking seventh years who had been practicing advanced spell casting and, quite clearly, did not require the presence of a silly little first year. The next time, he was more fortunate about the door he chose to open. As he entered the second compartment, he caught sight of a girl, seemingly quite tall for her age, with long, auburn hair in two pigtails that hung over her shoulders. She looked up from her book as Scorpius took a hesitant step inside, her eyes wide. Scorpius couldn't tell if she was surprised, shocked or just plain scared; eleven years of isolation from other children had made him extremely poor at interpreting facial expressions. He was just about to say hello to the girl, but was beaten to it.

'Hello' she said brightly, all traces of her former suspicion gone. 'My name's Hazel Finnegan. And you're Scorpius Malfoy.'

Scorpius didn't quite know how she knew, and was about to ask, but again, 'Hazel' spoke first.

'My parents pointed you out to me on the platform. My dad knew your father when they were at school.' Hazel explained, closing her book and gesturing to the empty seat opposite her. Scorpius did as she suggested, but remained wary of the girl. If he'd learned anything from his brief encounters with others, it's that you shouldn't trust someone until they earn your trust. So for now, Hazel was simply an acquaintance.

Suddenly, Scorpius realised that he'd heard her surname before. He was sure he'd heard his father talking about a Mr Finnegan once. Then he remembered. 'Your dad's Seamus Finnegan, isn't he? The Auror?'

'That's right!' she replied, smiling at Scorpius. 'How'd you know that?'

Scorpius hesitated; he wasn't too keen on engaging in a long conversation with anyone, let alone someone he'd just met. He was bound to say something stupid or socially incorrect at some point during the journey, but he tried his voice anyway.

'My father's a healer at St. Mungo's, he had to fix your dad's collarbone once, I think. Did he get injured in a fight?'

'No, no, he hurt himself giving me a piggy back around the garden!' Hazel laughs, her chocolate brown eyes sparkling. 'He's a bit silly, my dad.'

Scorpius forced himself to smile. It upset him slightly, hearing other kids talk about their parents with such enthusiasm. He wished he could do the same, but of course he couldn't. He decided to change the subject.

'So, what house do you think you'll be sorted into, then?' inquired Scorpius, wanting to move the conversation away from family, and to centre it on something else.

'I don't know' replied Hazel, thoughtfully examining the soles of her shoes. 'I think maybe Hufflepuff. All my family have been there, and my Mum and Dad were Hufflepuff prefects' But Gryffindor or Ravenclaw will do just fine'

Scorpius knew exactly what his new friend was thinking. "Not Slytherin. Anything but Slytherin" He felt a jolt in the pit of his stomach. He could imagine the reaction on the face of his new 'friend' if he was put in Slytherin.

'I hope I won't be put in Slytherin though' Continued Hazel, voicing Scorpius's Thoughts with a new look of slight fear on her freckled face. 'I couldn't stand it to have my whole family think of me an outcast. My great aunt Lucy says that when she dies, I'll inherit her locket, which has the symbol of Hufflepuff on it. But I'm afraid my brother Devon will get it I'm a Slytherin. But it's not as If I have anything against the house...'

Scorpius was sure that Hazel had only added that last bit on because she remembered about Scorpius' family heritage. But he decided not to dwell on it.

'Do you have any other brothers or sisters?' Inquired Scorpius, Settling himself into a better seating position and depositing his black cat, Dax onto his trunk so that he could lean back into the chair, so that his chin was resting on his knees like he did back at home in his reading alcove.

'Brothers or sisters?' replied Hazel. Yeah, Devon's is in fifth year and my little brother is only nine. His name's Eddie and he's a metamorphmagus same as me, but he _really _can't control his powers yet. Devon _hates _that! He's the only one in the family who isn't one apart from Sasha here.'

'You're a metamorphmagus?' Replied Scorpius Incredulously. 'Aren't they really rare?'

'Yes, but it's more common amongst Irish families for some reason. Dad say's it's got something to do with being distantly related to leprechauns.'

Scorpius laughed. 'But if you're Irish, why don't you have an accent?'

'I was born in Dublin, and then the family moved to England when I was two and Devon was six'

'Can you show me some of your funny powers?' Asked Scorpius excitedly. 'Make your hair blonde, like mine!'

Hazel screwed up her face in concentration, and with a small popping sound, her hair turned a violent shade of flaming red.

'That wasn't supposed to happen.' She says, slightly embarrassed. 'I'll try again'

But before she could attempt to re-colour it, the compartment door slid open, making Scorpius jump.

'Whoa! Do we have another cousin we don't know about? A girl exclaimed, sitting down next to Scorpius and motioning for her companion, a small, black-haired boy, to do the same. The girl did in fact have hair almost exactly the same shade as Hazel's. That must mean...

'I'm Rose Weasley, by the way.' She said, turning to her friend. 'And this is Albus Potter'

Scorpius knew it. There was no other wizarding family in the country with such a distinctive hair colour.

'I'm Scorpius Malfoy' he said quietly, half expecting for Albus and Rose to leap away from him in disgust or fire hexes at him. But they simply smiled at and turned to Hazel. 'What's your name? Albus asked, his large green eyes twinkling.

'I'm Hazel Finnegan' she replied, grinning back. 'My dad was friends with your parents, and yours, Rose!'

Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted when the compartment door slid open yet again. It was the lady with the trolley, and Scorpius's mouth watered just looking at it all. He was used to Wizard sweets, of course, it was Muggle ones that he'd never had, but he was never allowed to buy as many as he liked. Before he could stop himself, he was reaching into his pocket, pulling out several silver and gold coins and saying 'How much can we get for this?'

It turned out to be quite a lot. Five minutes later, the empty seats were covered in piles of treats. Six pumpkin pasties, eight boxes of every flavour beans, a dozen chocolate frogs, several packets of best blowing gum and even some muggle sweets, which turned out to be sherbet lemons.

'Whoa, Scorpius, this'll last us for ages!' exclaimed Albus blissfully, engaged in what seemed to be a rather intimate moment with a pumpkin pasty.

'No it won't, Al, the way you're going, it'll last half an hour at most!' replied Rose. 'You've eaten three of those things already! That's half of them!'

'Well, there's one left for each of you then. Sounds fair!'

Rose slapped him playfully on the back of the head, sending the four friends into a fit of giggles. They almost didn't hear the announcement telling them to get changed into their robes. The girls went into the next compartment, leaving Scorpius and Albus alone to get dressed. Twice, Albus had to disentangle Scorpius's cat Dax from his trousers, much to his amusement.

When the four children had got changed, they resumed their feasting on the many sweets that still remained. Two of the remaining pumpkin pasties had mysteriously vanished.

With five minutes to go, the conversation had gone back onto the topic of houses, much to Scorpius's dismay. It wasn't as if he didn't enjoy talking to his new friends, but he was probably the only potential slytherin in the compartment.

He soon learned that Albus and Rose were both keen to be sorted into Gryffindor, and Hazel into Hufflepuff. Albus, like Hazel, was deeply worried about being put into slytherin. Scorpius wondered why. After the war, all the death eaters had either gone to Azkaban, fled the country or disappeared completely, leaving no children. The house had been clean of evil for a while now, but it's reputation seemed to linger.

In the process of sorting out her belongings, Hazel picked up her tiny ginger cat and handed her to Scorpius. She mewed plaintively, arching her back and baring her teeth at him in a disgruntled manner. She eyed him distastefully, digging her claws into his arm. With one rapid movement, she sprung at him, landing heavily and painfully on his head and unsheathing her claws to their maximum length.

'Aaagghh!' yelled Scorpius, grabbing the hissing kitten from off his head and letting it leap down onto the floor below them.

'Stupid cat! Shouted Hazel despairingly, checking to see if Scorpius was bleeding. 'Are you OK? she asked, extracting a tissue from her pocket and handing it to Scorpius. Scorpius gingerly dabbed his head, watching as deep crimson rosettes of blood seeped through the paper and wincing as the tissue pressed against his skin. He didn't know how one tiny kitten could do so much damage.


	2. Of Houses and Hats

They felt the train slowing down at around half past six in the evening, and when the scarlet steam engine finally pulled into Hogsmede station, Scorpius, Hazel, Albus and Rose carefully climbed out the train and onto the wet platform. Great, the rain follows me wherever I go,thought Scorpius_._ Just like me to bring misery to places.

What if he disgraced the name of Malfoy? What if he couldn't do any magic and had to be sent home? He couldn't bear the thought of going home and seeing the disappointed faces of his mother and father if he could not do magic.

"First years this way" called a large man with an enormous lantern in his hand. The light flooded the platform, illuminating the heads of the rushing, noisy crowd of chattering and frantic students. Scorpius knew this man to be Hagrid, an old friend of Scorpius's father and the Hogwarts gamekeeper.

'It's Hagrid! Shouted Rose, pulling Scorpius along with her. 'Come on!'

The excited children squeezed their way through the bustling crowd towards Hagrid. Scorpius recognized Sophie Thomas and several others, including Eden Longbottom, daughter of the Herbology teacher Neville Longbottom, who had been in the same and year as Scorpius's father. Rose called Sophie and Eden over with a gesture of her hand, smiling and flinging her arms around them as if they were the best of friends. He supposed that Albus, Rose, Eden and Sophie all knew each other before coming to Hogwarts, because their parents had all been friends. Scorpius wondered why Hazel wasn't included in this group, but was distracted by what he had just seen in front of him.

It was a vast lake, churning with masses of steely, iron grey water. Bobbing up and down on the water were about a dozen little wooden boats.

"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid yelled over the noise of the churning water and the yelling of the excited first years. Without hesitation, Hazel grabbed Scorpius, Rose and Albus and they all climbed into a boat together.

'Sorry, guys.' Albus said to Sophie and Eden. 'Look, you can sit with the marsh twins!' He indicated towards a pair of ashy haired boys sitting in the boat next to theirs. They were identical- right down to the large freckle that sat just below their left eyes.

Scorpius had never seen such similarly looking twins, even identical ones. There was always a way you could tell them apart; a birthmark, a scar, but this duo was as alike as a pair of socks.

When everyone was sitting in one of the boats, the little fleet of tiny vessels moved silently towards the magnificent castle.

It was much easier to see the school from their vantage point on the black lake, and soon there ware gasps of utter awe and astonishment among the children. The building stood bold, dark and proud on the horizon, dotted with hundreds of lights that could only be the school's many windows. Soon, they were close enough to glide smoothly underneath the castle into a small chamber. They were led up a tiny flight of rickety stairs and emerged into a huge, brightly lit entrance hall. It was even bigger than the one at Malfoy manor, and that was no small room. Straight ahead of them was a flight of marble stairs, leading to a set of magnificent wooden doors.

Scorpius didn't know what to think. As much as he had enjoyed the journey, and as impressive as he found the school, he still wished more than ever to be back in his alcove with his blanket and a good book. It was where he felt safe, where he knew that he wouldn't be laughed at or teased for being 'different'. Sometimes he liked to draw- he had a special sketchbook and set of watercolour pencils that he'd got for his birthday last year- but his real passion was reading. He liked muggle books best- although he had to be careful not to let his father see them. His favourite series was 'The Chronicles of Narnia' by C.S Lewis, as 'The lion, the witch and the wardrobe' was the first muggle book he had ever read. He wished he could be like Peter, the eldest brother, who was brave and strong. Scorpius was short, scrawny and pale, and not a bit like the characters in his books.

Suddenly, Scorpius realised that there was someone else in the entrance hall, someone quite tall, with dark brown hair and large hazel eyes. Someone nudged Scorpius in the rib. It was Hazel.

'It's professor Longbottom!' she whispered, smiling at the teacher, who seemed to recognise her. 'He's the deputy head now!'

"My name is professor Longbottom. Welcome to Hogwarts. Here, you will learn that hard work, effort and kindness are profitable, but that cheating, lying, bullying and rudeness will not be tolerated here. When we enter the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. You can earn house points for high achievement and effort in all areas of the school. Equally, rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup."

At Professor Longbottom's words, the grand doors opened, and the first years filed in one by one. The ceiling was amazing. It seemed to Scorpius as if there was no roof, just the star strewn sky stretching forever over the Great Hall. Hundreds of lit candles hung in mid air, suspended seemingly by just air. Scorpius wondered how melting wax wasn't dripping off them, but came to the conclusion that they must be enchanted. Four long tables stretched the whole length of the hall, supporting hundreds of large silver plats and goblets.

'It's incredible! Breathed Hazel quietly as she fell into step beside Scorpius. 'The ceiling's so cool! Oh look, there's the sorting hat!'

Sure enough, when all the children had lined up in front of the long teacher's table, professor Longbottom placed a stool on the ground. On top of the stool, there was a tatty, dog eared hat.

Scorpius knew what was coming next- the hat was going to sing. As if it had heard his thoughts, the hat began to speak.

_Welcome, first years, gather round, _

_And marvel at my stitch._

_For I am here to sort you, _

_Each wizard and each witch._

_You stand there shaking in your shoes,_

_Scared to try me on_

_But there's nothing to be scared of-_

_I'm sure I won't take long._

_Are you a Hufflepuff, by any chance,_

_Already loyal and just?_

_I guarantee that friendships made_

_Will never fade and rust._

_Or is Rowena Ravenclaw_

_The founder of your house?_

_In class you'll do spectacularly_

_And be quieter than a mouse._

_If you're brave and full of dare,_

_Then maybe Gryffindor would suit?_

_They've got all the boldness that they want,_

_And a bit of brains to boot._

_And finally there's old Slytherin_

_A house that's filled with pride_

_If you're ambitious, keen to prove,_

_They'll welcome you with arms all wide._

_But take heed, my children,_

_Take great care, _

_For I can sense a danger great._

_There's something stalking you out there._

The sorting hat fell silent, and there was a slight pause before the students and staff clapped. Apparently it wasn't normal for the sorting hat to give out warnings to anybody, and if it did, it wasn't a good sign. But now wasn't the time to worry about that; professor Longbottom was unfurling a scroll and opening his mouth to speak...

'Abercrombie, Essylt!'

Scorpius watched as a small, pale girl with pigtails walked shakily up to the stool and placed the sorting had on her head.

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Adams, Logan!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

The sorting continued like this for several minutes, until professor Longbottom shouted; 'Finnegan, Hazel!'

Scorpius, Albus and Rose watched with baited breath as Hazel stumbled up to the stool. After what seemed like an hour, the hat opened its 'mouth' and shouted

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Scorpius looked over to the Gryffindor table, which had erupted with applause. He noticed Hazel was smiling slightly, knowing that she wasn't a Slytherin.

The sorting ceremony continued with an air of efficiency, with each student taking no longer than about five minutes to be placed in their houses.

'Malfoy, Scorpius!'

This was it. This was his time to die. He shook as he placed the hat on his head, it's brim covering his eyes and making him blind to the stares.

'Ahh, another Malfoy! But you're different, so very different from your ancestors. You're clever, very clever, and loyal to nobody but the characters in your books... And you're brave, so very brave for managing on your own all these years. And you're a parselmouth too...

Dear, dear, where should I put you?'

Scorpius thought of his parents, the Slytherins... He didn't want to be like them, did he? But if he was put in slytherin, he could prove that they weren't all evil... But he wanted Ravenclaw, for some reason. He wanted to sit and read all day long without people judging him...

'Ah, I see.' Said the hat inside his head. You're in a dilemma aren't you? Let me sort that out...

'RAVENCLAW!'

Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief as he took off the hat and walked over to the Ravenclaw table. His friends wouldn't leave him! He sat down next to some second years, who smiled politely at him and clapped him on the back.

The Marsh twins, Sebastian and Luke, also ended up in Ravenclaw, until...

'Potter, Albus!'

Albus walked up to the hat, trying to conceal his apparent fear, but failing to hide his shaking hands as he placed the hat on his head.

Suddenly, the hat shouted 'GRYFFINDOR!'

The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers, and a sea of redheads pulled Albus into the crowd of students seated at the far side of the hall. Scorpius was happy for him. He was exactly where he wanted to be, where he knew all along was the place he belonged.

'Weasley, Rose!'

'RAVENCLAW!'

Scorpius's face split into a wide smile. Rose was in his house! He wasn't going to be alone!

'Budge up, Scorpius!' she grinned, taking a seat next to scorpius, with the twins opposite and the other Ravenclaw first years, Kathleen McKenna, Amelia Sparrow, another couple of girls and two other boys who Scorpius believed to be called Earnest Brown and John something-or-other. He soon discovered that they were Muggle born cousins, and had their names down for a school called Eton which as supposedly a very expensive 'private' school.

Scorpius was content. There was no other word to describe what he was feeling at that moment. He and Rose were in Ravenclaw together, and Hazel and Albus in Gryffindor. They could go on being friends for as long as they liked.


	3. Of Feasts and Friends

Scorpius grinned. He couldn't help himself. He was going to prove to everyone that just because he was a Malfoy didn't mean that he was evil. He decided that Ravenclaw was the best place for him to be, because its students didn't judge your character based on your surname. He learned this after only five minutes at the table, when the older children sitting round him went out of their way to shake his hand politely, or smile warmly at him.

After the sorting, the headmistress, Professor McGonagall, rose from her chair at the staff table and walked down to stand at the front of the hall. Scorpius couldn't help noticing that she was quite slow, and seemed to be limping slightly on her right side. He put it down to her age, as she was apparently considerably old nineteen years ago when his parents had left school, and was obviously a lot older now.

She opened her mouth and began to speak her voice surprisingly loud and clear for such an old woman. Scorpius wondered if she was using a spell to magnify the volume, but could see no wand in her hand. He supposed it must be wandless magic.

'Welcome, Students, to another year at Hogwarts School. I hope you all had an enjoyable and relaxing summer, but now is the time to work hard, and put that holiday attitude right away until the Christmas break. I just have a few notices before we begin the feast, but bear with me, I'm sure you cannot be too hungry, as I made sure there was enough sweets on that snack trolley to feed you all for several days.'

Scorpius remembered Albus and the pumpkin pasties, and was sure that he wouldn't have room for anything until at least lunchtime tomorrow, but when he looked over to the Gryffindor table, he could see his new friend trying to discreetly place a chocolate frog into his mouth, but was failing spectacularly, as it kept jumping out of his hands. He chuckled. Albus would end up fat if he wasn't careful, but somehow he had inherited enough Potter genes to stay as thin as a rake.

'The first situation I would like to make you aware of is that greenhouse three is closed this year, and any attempt to break into said greenhouse will result in a severe punishment.' began the headmistress, eyeing Albus disapprovingly as the frog leapt into a nearby water jug.

'Secondly, the Caretaker, Mr Filch, has sadly passed away during the summer, and so his duties have been taken over by the school's house elves, who will now be seen about the castle during the day.'

Rose let out a sharp intake of breath beside him, and shook her head in annoyance.

Scorpius wondered why, as house elves knew nothing else than the duties they were told to do, and were angry at themselves if they did not complete the chores to their satisfaction.

'Also, a section of the seventh floor corridor has been cordoned off, as a small lake has appeared near the entrance to the divination tower and cannot be removed by manual means or by any spell known to us.'

The Gryffindor table turned, grinning, towards a tall boy with dark hair, who smirked cockily. Judging by his looks and facial features, Scorpius guessed he was some relative of Albus's, perhaps a cousin or brother. Luckily, Professor McGonagall was too busy with her notes to notice this, or maybe she had simply decided to discuss the lake with the boy in private another day.

'One more thing, students; I would take care this year. The sorting hat's warnings are rare, but never wrong. However, do not let its words get in the way of you having a happy and successful year. Thank you.'

The hall applauded the headmistress politely as she returned to her seat. But almost immediately, it erupted with sounds of delight as the food appeared. Scorpius was taken aback at the sheer amount of the stuff. He'd never seen so much food before, as he normally ate in his own little dining room, accompanied only by a nanny or a couple of house elves. He really didn't know what to reach for first, and he was about to take some chips when a fifth year prefect grabbed them from him. He eventually decided on roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, carrots, peas and gravy, but was finished that within ten minutes and so took some chicken tikka masala as well. It took him nearly twenty-five minutes to realise that he hadn't spoken during the entire duration of the feast, and when he attempted to join in the conversation, he got totally lost.

'And then I just kicked him up the bum!' said Sebastian Marsh, breaking into peals of laughter and sending everyone but Scorpius into hysterics.

'Who did you kick?' asked Scorpius, embarrassed that he didn't know. This was exactly why he didn't want to come to Hogwarts in the first place, the fact that whenever he was in anyone's company he slipped up socially.

'Luke!' he said, laughing again.

'Only because I borrowed his 'Hunger Games' book.' replied Sebastian's twin to Scorpius. 'It's really good; you should read it!'

'I've already read it and the other two books in the series as well.' Responded Scorpius, grinning. I've got a copy of them all in my book bag if you need to borrow them.'

'Really?' Thanks!'

Suddenly, the main course vanished, to be replaced with pudding. Learning from his experience of chip-robbery only half an hour before, Scorpius lunged for a large plate of chocolate brownies before the others had even noticed it was there. Scooping up a large chunk of ice cream as well, Scorpius dug in heartily.

After he'd finished, he drained his goblet and reached for the water jug to fill it up again, feeling strangely thirsty. But before he could pick it up, the cup gained weight again. Curious, Scorpius looked down at the goblet. It was full of water. But how? He'd drank it all mere moments before! He quickly assumed that Rose, who was sitting next to him, had filled it up for him, but he hadn't seen her do it.

He noticed something else as well. The palms of his hands were wet. He looked at the table, expecting to see a spillage which he'd put his in hands by mistake. But there was nothing. Even the outside of the goblet was dry, as was the handle of the jug. He wiped his hands on his robes and began to eat the brownie and ice cream mess he'd created on the plate.

'What's up, Scorpius? Rose asked, putting down her spoon and looking at him. Her red hair fell in soft curls about her shoulders, and Scorpius noticed that she had a bit of ice cream in it. She caught him looking and wiped it out with a napkin, blushing.

'Oh, nothing' Scorpius replied, staring absent-mindedly at a fork as the pudding vanished and Professor McGonagall rose to her feet again and proceeded to order the students to bed.

'Come on, you guys! Follow me to the common room.' A fifth year prefect whom Scorpius recognised as the chip thief from earlier stood up and beckoned the first years out of the hall. Scorpius, Rose, Sebastian, Luke and the other Ravenclaws followed him out of the double doors and up staircase after staircase. Sophie Thomas, who had been sorted into Gryffindor, passed them in a corridor with Albus, Hazel and Eden Longbottom alongside her. At the end of this corridor, The Ravenclaws turned right and the Gryffindors left. Both houses lived in a tower, Ravenclaw tower facing west and the Gryffindor one east.

Suddenly, they came to a winding staircase, which seemed to go on for ever. Scorpius felt as if they were never going to stop walking, but the Ravenclaws stopped abruptly in front of a door. Scorpius assumed that the prefect would open it and they'd walk inside, but he soon realised that there was no handle. How would they get in?

As if answering his unvoiced question, the prefect knocked on the door. The eagle knocker spoke.

'Give me food and I will live. Give me water and I will die. What am I?

'Fire!' someone shouted. Everyone turned to stare at Scorpius. He wondered why they were doing so, but he soon realised that it was him who'd shouted the answer.

'Very good' replied the knocker. The door swung open, and Scorpius gasped.

It was a wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. Form out the windows, a view of the school grounds, including the lake, Forbidden Forest, Quidditch pitch, Herbology gardens and the surrounding mountains stretched forever, and despite the almost pitch blackness seemed beautiful. The room was furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by the door leading up to the dormitories stood a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of white marble. Scorpius was home. He just knew it- this was where he belonged, this was the place he wanted to be every day of his whole life. It took him a while to realize that all the other first years were gone, and had followed the prefect up the stairs to the dormitories. He ran up the staircase and burst thorough a door. Several girls screamed.

'Get out, Scorpius! The boys dormitories are on the left!' shrieked Rose, nudging him out the door with her foot.

_That was embarrassing, _thought Scorpius as he pushed open the left door and walked inside. There were five four poster beds, arranged in a circle around the room. Beside each bed was a bedside table, the first years' trunks and belongings and, surprise surprise, a small bookcase. The only bed left was the one closest to the door, but Scorpius didn't really mind. He sat down on the bed and changed into his pajamas, chatting to the twins and the other two boys, Earnest Brown and John McKenna. They were very posh, and had the most stereotypically English accents Scorpius had ever come across. One of them, Earnest, said words like super and jolly, and reminded Scorpius of a boy called Julian from 'The famous Five' series of books that he'd read when he was quite little.

'I'm ever so glad I was put in Ravenclaw, I've done research into the houses and all the others sound frightfully silly!' said Earnest as he arranged his books on the bookcase.

'They don't sound that bad, Earnest old boy' replied John, doing the same.

'Oh yes they jolly well do!'

'But-'

'The Hufflepuffs seem an alright sort' interrupted Earnest rudely 'but they have the intelligence of someone from one of those awful muggle secondary schools! And that Gryffindor bunch is awfully bold for my liking, laughing during the headmistress's speech! And as for the Slytherins...'

_Here we go, someone else insulting the house that's been my family's home for generations, _thought Scorpius as he gripped the sheets of his bed.

'I've heard they produced the darkest and most evil wizards of all time! And I'm willing to bet my mansion that the slytherins here are _just _as bad. If only I knew how to duel, I'd give them what was-'

'Shut up!' shouted Scorpius, rising from the bed and striding over to Earnest, who also rose to his feet. 'You've never even spoken to a Slytherin and you're already making presumptions! You're just a bigoted, opinionated little snob who thinks he's better than the rest of us just because he's rich! Oh, and by the way, I bet my mansion's _way _bigger than yours!'

Leaving Earnest stunned into silence, Scorpius blew out the candles, got into bed and said 'Goodnight Sebastian, goodnight Luke, goodnight John.' And with that, he rolled over onto his side, closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come. He didn't even notice that his hands were wet.


	4. Of Plants and Powers

Scorpius awoke the next day to the sound of screams. Screams? Was someone hurt? He leapt out of bed, grabbing his wand from his bedside table and staring, wide-eyed, around the dormitory. There was nobody there- all the curtains were drawn around the beds, and the door was still closed. Then who had been screaming?

'Drat! Drat drat drat!' came a voice from the bed next to Scorpius's. He cautiously pulled back the curtains to reveal Earnest, sitting cross-legged in the middle of his bed, soaking wet and dripping. Dripping?

'Umm, Earnest, what happened? Why are you so wet?'

'I bet it was you, you good for nothing rotter!' yelled Earnest, standing up and shaking himself about in an attempt to get dry. 'You're a strange boy, you are! Should have been in Slytherin!'

'How could it have been me? I was asleep and I heard screams!' replied Scorpius indignantly, throwing on his uniform and chucking a towel at Earnest while he was at it.

'Your hands are wet, look!' cried Earnest, grabbing Scorpius and turning his palms up. Sure enough, they were.

'I'm going to breakfast.' Said Scorpius, putting on his shoes and opening the door. 'And by the way, your breath stinks in the morning!'

He strode out of the room, pausing at the end of the passage to knock on the door to the first year girls' dormitory. The door opened to reveal Rose, already dressed and carrying, surprise surprise, a book.

'Coming to breakfast, Rose?' asked Scorpius, somewhat nervously. He'd only met Rose yesterday; what If she'd made friends with the other girls and didn't want to hang around with him anymore?

'Ok!' she replied, linking arms with him and walking into the common room. She smiled at him as if they were the best of friends, which was an experience Scorpius had never felt before. The only friends he had were the people in stories; Brave Katniss from the hunger games, the Pevensie family from the C.S Lewis books, Frodo from the Hobbit. These were friends who he could shut away if he wanted to, or skip to the next chapter of their life so he didn't have to read about bits like kissing or romantic stuff, which he found uncomfortable and icky.

Rose and Scorpius left Ravenclaw tower at almost exactly seven o'clock, and they soon discovered that the castle was almost deserted at this time of day.

It took them almost half an hour to find the great hall, and by that time, more students had got there too and had sat down at their respective house tables. They discovered Albus and Hazel sitting at the Gryffindor table, and so went over to join them.

'Hey, guys! yelled Albus, moving up along the bench so that Scorpius and Rose could sit down.

'How did your first night go?' asked Hazel, passing Scorpius some toast and jam and putting another sausage on her plate.

'Well, it was a bit wet. Earnest woke up dripping wet and screaming and then said that I did it!'

'Of course you didn't, mate!' Albus replied, clapping him on the back and passing him a goblet of pumpkin juice.

Could he have done it, though? He remembered the goblet from the feast last night, how it had filled with water the moment he felt thirsty. And this morning, when he had awoken to find Earnest soaking wet, and with his palms wet again...

He stared down at the cup in his hand and willed it to fill with pumpkin juice. It didn't. Perhaps it only worked with water. He closed his eyes. _Water, _he thought, hoping that the goblet would fill with water just as it had done the previous night, but it didn't. Scorpius sighed. There was nothing special about him at all- he was just a strange, slightly anti social bookworm with anger issues.

'You OK, Scorpius? They're handing the Ravenclaw timetables out now, I think we'd better go and sit over there.' Said Rose, indicating to the Ravenclaw table as she got to her feet and pulled Scorpius with her.

As they approached the table, professor Longbottom came over and handed them a piece of parchment each. 'Your timetables.' he said cheerfully, grinning down at them and rocking on the balls of his feet. 'Looks like you're in for a good day!'

Scorpius looked down at his timetable. He had five lessons in total that day. First, he had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, then after break he had defence against the dark arts with Gryffindor and then History of Magic with the Slytherins. This, apparently, was counted as a good lesson because of the fact that you could do anything you wanted and the teacher wouldn't notice, but Scorpius had spent a great deal of time over the summer reading his textbooks, and found history quite interesting.

After lunch, the last two lessons were double charms, again with the Slytherins. Scorpius didn't really care, because they had no reason to bully him, but Rose was anxious about what the afternoon would bring.

'I'm telling you, Scorpius, they have it in for me already, just because I'm a Weasley!' said Rose as they trudged across the grounds towards the greenhouses. 'I bet you they're going to attack me the moment I get to History of magic!'

'Oh, come on Rosie!' replied Albus, rolling his eyes at his cousin and patting her on the shoulder. 'It'll be ok.'

'Um, Al, aren't you supposed to be in Potions with the Slytherins?' said Rose, turning to face Albus.

'Oh Merlin! Yes, I am. See you later guys!' and with that, he raced off back towards the castle, arms flailing in the air. Scorpius could've sworn that he saw another chocolate frog leap from Albus's pocket, making a bid for freedom.

'No wonder he's not in Ravenclaw.' Said Rose as they approached greenhouse one. 'He's as scatty as a five year old.'

Scorpius couldn't help but laugh. He was glad to be able to joke around with real people, rather than fictional characters. He felt alive, more alive than he'd ever felt in his whole life. He liked it.

'Welcome to Greenhouse one, first years! Said Professor Longbottom as the class entered the door. 'How are you all doing this morning?'

There was a murmured reply from the class of 'fine', but Scorpius guessed that his classmates, just like him, were too tired to speak. They hadn't got to bed until at least ten last night, and these eleven year olds were used to far earlier bedtimes. Scorpius, however, would be twelve in just a week, and was hoping that this year his birthday would be a good one.

'Does anyone know what daisy roots are used for?' asked Professor Longbottom. There was silence from the class, broken only by a quiet noise that Scorpius could only identify as snoring.

'Nobody?'

But then, Scorpius remembered. He'd read the answer mere days before in his herbology textbook.

'They're used in shrinking solutions, sir! Said Scorpius, almost shouting. He was rather pleased with himself.

'Excellent, Scorpius, ten points to Ravenclaw!'

Scorpius beamed. He'd never received praise from anyone before, and he certainly hadn't been rewarded for knowing something. He turned to Rose, expecting her to congratulate him, but her smile was somehow wrong, as if she wasn't really pleased for him. As he was bad at reading facial expressions, Scorpius came to the conclusion that he'd simply misinterpreted this one. He turned back to look at the teacher.

'I expect you're wondering why I asked that question.' Said professor Longbottom, looking around at the class again. 'It's because you're going to be collecting daisy roots for the third years to be used in potions!'

'Why can't they do it themselves, the layabouts?' whispered Earnest to John. 'We should be doing more advanced things; we are the cleverest house, after all.'

'Quiet please, Earnest.' Said professor Longbottom, shaking his head at the boy. 'I don't want to have to take away any points from your house!'

Professor Longbottom then proceeded to hand out several trays, each with around two dozen large daisies planted in rows.

'There won't be enough for everyone to go in pairs, so Earnest, I'd like you to go in a three with Rose and Scorpius, please.'

Earnest sighed and walked over to join Rose and Scorpius.

'Just so you know, Scorpius, I think you're a very sneaky fellow.' He said, pulling the tray of daisies away from Rose. 'I don't normally say this to people until I've given them a chance to prove themselves, but I find you to be absolutely horrible!'

'And I find you to be extremely, what's the word… wet!' replied Scorpius, picking up the watering can and beginning to sprinkle it over the daisies. He noticed with a strange smugness that Earnest's hair was still damp. And he had his jumper on inside out.

The rest of the lesson passed amicably, with Earnest remaining blissfully silent as they tended to the flowers. Rose and Scorpius had a great time discussing books, and Scorpius soon discovered that Rose, just like him, found the Chronicles of Narnia to be her favourite series. Five minutes before the end of the lesson, Professor Longbottom asked the class to pack away, and so Scorpius set to work sweeping up the compost which had gathered on the floor underneath the wooden workbench, whilst Rose and a rather disgruntled Earnest carried the tray back over to the front table.

'Drat! My hands are filthy! Someone get me a handkerchief!' he shouted, staring at his hands as if they were about to explode. One of the Hufflepuff girls kindly obliged, as Hufflepuffs do, leaving Scorpius and Rose to giggle at his feeble attempts to remove the earth from his fingernails.

The bell for break time rang at ten thirty on the dot, and Rose and Scorpius ran as fast as they could back to the castle so that they could meet Albus and Hazel as they came out of potions. They reached the dungeons just as the Slytherins and Gryffindors were filing out, and they ran up to their two friends.

'Hey Rose! Scorpius!' shouted Hazel as she saw them approaching. Scorpius noticed with alarm that she only had one shoe on, and her left pigtail was half the length it had been when he'd last seen her.

'Hazel, what happened?' asked Scorpius.

'Well, our potion went a bit wrong, and my hair sort of trailed in it. And then Albus screamed and knocked the cauldron over.'

'And then it burned holes in people's shoes!' yelled Albus excitedly. 'And Hazel's was so badly damaged she had to take it off!'

Sure enough, Hazel held up the remains of her right school shoe. It now resembled a strip of smoking leather.

'Here, Hazel, let me try and fix it.' said Rose, gingerly taking the 'shoe' in her fingertips, pointing her wand at it and saying 'reparo!'

Nothing happened. 'Um, can I have a go?' asked Scorpius, taking the shoe and directing his own wand at it. He focused his mind on the shoe, every thought, every idea was thinking _repair. _'Reparo!'

To everyone's astonishment, the shoe fixed itself in an instant. Scorpius was pleased with himself.

'Wow! Even the scuffs are gone! Thanks, Scorpius! Look Rose, it's as good as new!'

'Yeah, it's perfect.' Replied Rose, becoming interested in the floor. 'Amazing.'

Again, Scorpius wondered if she really thought it was amazing. Her face showed something else. Was it sadness? Anger? Fear? Resentment? Scorpius didn't know. Was Rose annoyed with him for fixing the shoe? He didn't see why she should be, after all, everyone else was happy that Hazel's shoe was as good as new again.

He followed the others up the stairs and into the entrance hall, thinking. He decided that there were two things he needed to figure out: Why did water keep appearing around him? And what was wrong with Rose?


	5. Of Ice and Eyes

Break time seemed to go too quickly for Scorpius's liking. It was apparently quite a new concept at Hogwarts to have a break during the morning, and it gave them an extra twenty minutes to find their next class. Unfortunately, this was almost all they did, as it took them ten minutes to locate the Defence against the dark arts classroom, and the remaining half of break was spent trying to scrape pieces of festering pumpkin pasty from the bottom of Albus's bag, which he had apparently forgotten was there. His potions textbook was almost completely ruined. Scorpius eventually managed to get the some of it off using a basic cleaning charm which he'd looked up in 'The standard book of spells- grade one'.

By the time they had finished, almost all the rest of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had gathered outside the classroom, and the topic had turned to teachers. The first years had been too nervous about the sorting to pay attention to many of the announcements, and so nobody knew for certain what the new DADA teacher's name was.

'I wish it was Teddy!' moaned Rose for about the fourth time in twenty minutes. 'He's so good at defence!'

'But he's training to be an auror! Why would he want to come and teach a bunch of idiots like us?' replied Albus. 'And the teacher we saw at the feast didn't look anything like him.'

'Um, isn't he a Metamorphmagus like me?' asked Hazel, making her hair turn blue to demonstrate her point. 'It could be him, couldn't it?'

Rose was about to respond, but before she could speak, the mysterious teacher came into view.

'Silence, class! Go inside please, and no talking!'

Scorpius did as he was told without hesitation. There was something in this man's voice and that seemed to affect his mind. He wondered briefly if he was under the imperius curse, but soon decided that it would be highly illegal for a Professor to use an unforgivable curse on students. Oclumency? That seemed a better explanation. It was most likely against the rules, but was extremely hard to prove. One thing he knew for certain- it certainly wasn't this 'Teddy' that Rose had been talking about.

Scorpius decided that the best solution was to behave, work hard and keep his head down. He didn't want to give this mysterious, ice-eyed, stern faced teacher any reason to tell him off. He hoped Albus, Hazel and Rose would think like that as well, or the lesson would not go smoothly. He chose a seat at the back next to Albus, with the two girls sitting at the desk just in front of theirs. This way, Scorpius would hopefully be able to keep Albus under control and Rose monitoring hazel likewise. Albus's cheeky personality would definitely clash with the teacher's, and although they were in different houses, Scorpius would be sad if his new friend lost house points on the very first day.

Scorpius looked towards the front of the classroom. The teacher seemed to be preoccupied with some papers on the front desk, and so it seemed safe to whisper until the professor called for silence.

'What do you think his name is?' he breathed quietly to Albus. 'I don't recognise him.' To Scorpius's surprise, Albus didn't reply. Instead, his eyes grew large and he jerked his head towards the front of the class. Scorpius looked. The teacher was standing in front of the desk, his cold, ice-blue eyes looking straight at Scorpius.

'What is your name, boy?' he said smoothly. Again, there was something in his gaze that made Scorpius feel strange, almost like he wasn't himself. Scorpius didn't reply. He didn't think he could. He just sat there, transfixed by the professor's eyes. It took a nudge in the ribs from Albus to bring him back to earth.

'Scorpius, Scorpius Malfoy.'

'Well, Mr Malfoy, I suggest you pay attention and do not speak again until I instruct you to.'

'Yes, Sir.'

Scorpius was shaking slightly. He didn't know why; the teacher hadn't done anything particularly mean. In fact, he thought he was lucky that he hadn't been shouted at. But then again, the professor didn't seem like the type to raise his voice. It was mysterious.

'My name is professor Gelus. In my class, the only time you speak is when I tell you to. You must not pass notes, graffiti the desks, perform any spell without my permission or make jokes amongst yourselves. If I find any student doing so, then that student will be punished.'

To Scorpius's surprise, Albus grinned slightly. That couldn't be good. It probably meant that he was hatching some kind of plan, and Scorpius guessed that any plan of Albus's involved either several dung bombs or a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product. He hoped that Albus was sensible enough not to put his schemes into action.

'Today we will be learning a basic disarming charm. I would like you to work with the person you are currently sitting next to, and would like you to not make conversation with anyone but your partner.'

Professor Gelus instructed the first years to clear a space in the middle of the room so that he could teach them to use the disarming spell. Nobody dared speak, as they'd seen what happened to Scorpius and had no desire to have Professor Gelus tell them off. He seemed so odd, so scarily captivating that to look into his eyes meant a chill up your spine and a tingle in your brain. Maybe the professor could read minds, thought Scorpius. What other explanation could there be for such a strange sensation?

After all the students were standing with their partner, Professor Gelus told them to take out their wands. Scorpius did so. It was a rather unusual wand, a strangely pale wood with odd carvings etched up and down it. They looked a bit like runes, but when Scorpius had looked them up in 'a study of ancient runes' which his mother had lent him, he'd found that they weren't normal. The largest rune, the one on the handle, looked a bit like the ancient symbol for water, but upon closer inspection Scorpius discovered that it was slightly different, with more lines. None of the others even looked to any recognisable symbols.

He withdrew it from the pocket of his robes and pointed it at Albus. Albus's wand was a dark wood, probably cherry or holly, and was quite plain in comparison to Scorpius's. Its handle was a darker colour still, smooth and with no visible markings.

'On the count of three, I want you all to say 'expeliarmus.' said professor Gelus, walking around the room and correcting people's stances. 'One, two, three!'

'Expeliarmus! shouted the class. Nothing happened. Not even Rose or Scorpius managed to even make Hazel or Albus's wands so much as twitch.

Scorpius tried again, with the same result. He felt disheartened. He'd been so pleased with himself when he'd managed to clean Albus's bag, and now here he was, in class, not being able to do anything at all. His wand felt like a stick in his hand- not remotely magical. Scorpius decided to try one more time. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind, imagining a large, blank surface, pushing away all thoughts except 'disarm Albus'

'Expeliarmus!' he shouted, eyes still closed. He waited several seconds before hearing the unmistakeable clatter of wood on stone. He'd done it! Scorpius opened his eyes to reveal a stunned Albus, a rather disgruntled (he thought) Rose, and Professor Gelus, whose expression he could not even begin to interpret.

'Five points from Ravenclaw, Mr Malfoy. I did not give you permission to perform the spell again. Everyone please return the desks to where they were before.'

The class emitted a collective groan as they dragged the chairs and tables to their original places. Nobody wanted to do written work on the very first day, and several students even gave Scorpius _the look _as he returned to his seat. Scorpius sighed. It wasn't his fault! All he did was disarm someone! He should have _got _five points, not had them taken away.

The rest of the class passed quietly and tediously, with the first years copying out passages from their spell books on the theory of disarming. Scorpius was pleased to discover that his method of clearing your mind was the perfect way to concentrate on spell casting, and this almost made up for the house point fiasco. Earnest, who was sitting across the aisle from Scorpius, kept throwing him dirty looks. Scorpius decided to ignore him. He certainly didn't want to get in trouble again.

After the lesson, Scorpius, Albus, Rose and Hazel almost screamed with relief the moment they got out of the room.

'That was so unfair!' shouted Rose. 'Scorpius didn't deserve to get points taken away! I think I'm going to complain to Miss Clearwater about him!'

Miss Clearwater was head of Ravenclaw house, and, according to Rose, had once dated her uncle Percy. 'She's really nice' she explained. 'I'm sure she'll give us the points back. After all, she wants Ravenclaw to win too!'

'I don't! We want Gryffindor to win, don't we Hazel!' yelled Albus, throwing his arm around Hazel's shoulders.

'Of course! We're by far the best house!' she replied, grinning. Ravenclaw suck-'

'No we don't! responded Rose in mock anger, nudging Hazel on the shoulder and smiling. Hazel screwed up her eyes, her hair turning crimson red. 'Go lions!'

Scorpius laughed along with the rest. It felt good to have friends. He wasn't sure how long it would last, but while it did, he was content. Content with the fact that he was, at the moment, happy.


End file.
